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Using Outlook.com and hotmail with Android and iphone/iPad

I read an article today that compared the different webmail services Gmail, outlook.com and yahoo (-> link). Nice one, which, however, can be improved on one point: it states that mobile availability of outlook.com is limited to Windows Phone and a not too great app for android. This is not correct (except the part about the Android app): outlook.com (as well as hotmail and the related MS domains) is in fact supported natively on these devices, via the Exchange ActiveSync setup, and includes not only mail, but also calendar and contacts.

Here is how to set it up on Android devices:

  1. In the ‘Settings’ list, select ‘Accounts & sync’ and then ‘Add an account’
  2. Select type ‘Exchange ActiveSync’ or ‘Corporate’ (name depends on the Android flavor – those are the twos that I have encountered on HTC Sense and CyanogenMod respectively)
  3. Select ‘Manual setup’ and enter the following:
    ‘Email address’ = xxx@outlook.com
    ‘Server address’ = m.hotmail.com (that is hotmail regardless of the domain part of the email address)
    ‘Domain’ = xxx@outlook.com
    ‘Username’ = xxx@outlook.com
    ‘Password’ = your password to outlook.com
    ‘Encrypted SSL connection’ should be checked
  4. Tab ‘Next’ and select data to synchronize and update settings
  5. Tab ‘Next’ and assign a name to the account and indicate if it is the default mail account
  6. Done

An illustrated guide is also available here at komodocontacts.com: -> link.

I have done this on Android versions Gingerbread, ICS and Jellybean, with Samsung, HTC, MIUI or CyanogenMod flavor, and it always works without problems. I even did it once for a friend iPhone too, and expect it to work on iPad as well.

Since the outlook.com mail/calendar/contact services also work with the free Windows live Mail, Windows 8, Outlook 2010 (with connector plugin) and Outlook 2013; this service really ties things together.

Regarding the outlook.com app for Android, it is worth considering for the calendar synchronization. Setting up Exchange ActiveSync will synchronize the standard calendar, but it does not include special calendars like holidays, birthdays or shared calendars. This will work if the outlook.com app is set up (which means that the standard calendar becomes available twice, so one of them should be hidden). Synchronizing contact data with this app should be avoided, since it only includes synchronize name fields. The mail experience is similar to the Web client, but I tend to disable the notifications and use the standard mail application instead.

 

What Will Windows 8.1 do for PCs ?

Today it has been officially leaked that Microsoft will release Windows 8.1 aka Windows Blue later this year as a free upgrade to Windows 8.

Well, I just posted a comment that falling PC sales are not because Windows 8 has no start button etc, but because most people do not need a new PC to get their daily tasks done, and if they wanted a better tool, a tablet is the thing.

So, if I am wrong, we will see PC sales rise again when Blue hits the stores, while tablet sales remain unchanged. However, if I am right, then Windows 8 users will hopefully suffer fewer inconveniences and the decline of PC sales continue.

I don’t mind being wrong here, but time will tell, as will my news feeds.

The PC Industry and What People Want

A persistent theme in my news feed is the decline of the PC industry. Some manufacturers blame Microsoft and especially Windows 8, others have blamed the netbooks for pushing prices so low that the industry is not sustainable. Some note that tablet sales went up, when PC sales went down, and remember that the households’ IT budget didn’t double when the iPad was launched.

What I haven’t seen mentioned by the industry or the commentators  is what the consumers need and want. There is an underlying assumption that people must want to buy a new PCs every Nth year. But why should they?

A person who primarily needs the computer to browse the Internet, read news, access email, do netbanking, play a casual game and socialize via Facebook will be served well with an older PCs. If the only other things wished for is a simpler, wireless experience that can be enjoyed everywhere, a tablet fits the bill.

A modern PC can do amazing things, but why would the person sketched out above need one?

(writing some ideas sounds like my next post : )

A side note : If Windows 8 could be blamed for declining PC sales out would be because it is more resource efficient than previous versions of Windows, making upgrade to Windows 8 on an old PC an alternative to bring all new hardware.

Another side note: History seems to have proven Marc Andreesen right and more, when he said that “[Netscape will soon reduce Windows to] a poorly debugged set of device drivers”: the user above can do all that is to be done within a browser, making the OS and the hardware irrelevant (ref Wikiquote)

Antivirus Vendors dropping Windows XP Support

Last week I read this piece about how
Windows XP [is] at risk as antivirus vendors jump ship and the unanswered question “why are they doing this”  left me thinking.

After thinking, I have the answer: “Money”

The Antivirus vendors will put their efforts where the sales are. Looking up the latest statistics of operating system usage shares at Wikipedia, it is correct that almost 40 percent of PCs are running Windows XP, but who knows bow many of those have owners that will buy antivures software? (well, Microsoft knows how many are licensed, but I doubt they will tell me). However, the statistics do not mention how many of those XP installations are corporate, but those that are, should be busy complete ting upgrade to Windows 7 before April 2014. For the consumers that still run Windows XP on their PCs, I dare guess that they have a healthier IT/life balance than me, and so give ITinvestments@home lower priority. But even if they did otherwise, much hardware with Windows XP OEM installations and full service pack and security updates would struggle to run antivirus suites intended for newer, more powerful hardware platforms. I can also imagine that some of those older XP machines have in fact been replaced by tablets that satisfy the same user needs as the older PCs.

A real world example: I am writing this entry during a family visit while installing Win XP Service Pack 3 on a 2005 Laptop, powered by a since core 1.73GHz CPU. It did have antivirus installed upon delivery, but that was uninstalled when the laptop’s performance degraded over time.

Regardless the motives of the Antivirus vendors, this story just confirms that staying on Windows XP is a risky affair, because we can be fairly certain that at least the malware vendors will continue to support Windows XP for a while.

MIUI Test – Followup

Last weekend I brought my MIUI Desire with iPhone inspired theme to a family get together and compared it to the real thing. And they were indeed very much alike. Applying a skin with lookalike lock screens and icon packs doesn’t chance essentials and after all, Android and iOS meets the same base requirements: making a smartphone run. Thinking about it, my past experience with Symbian and BlackBerry confirms this too (and now I feel like getting a Windows phone, just to be thorough : )

I learnt something, which was great, and had an opportunity to show some of the possibilities Android offers. That was too.